Re: 3rd ODI: Pakistan Vs India on 11 Nov 2007 @ Kanpur
You must be kiddin.
Afridi is a tremendous value as an ODI player.
Afridi is a victim of his own batting talents. He builds up huge expectation from his fans by playing some super innings now and then. Everytime he comes out , the fans expect him to set the stands on fire...when that does not happen, he becomes an obvious target for criticism. If only the fans treated Afridi as a bowler who is a "lottery" as a batsman, things would be much simpler.
He is still much more valuable than a plain bowler. For example, would you rather choose "Murli Kartik" - a plain bowler OR Afridi who is probably as good an ODI bowler as Kartik and capable of great hitting as a batsman as well.
Afridi's ODI value can in no way be discounted.
Yes afridi is of great value precisely for the reasons you state...to the team playing against Pakistan.
I don't know Murli Karthik but whenever my team is playing against Pakistan I will chose Afridi for Pakistan every time and someone with consistency for my team.